An important feature to help in good health, longevity is regular, proper exercise. Exercise may take a number of forms. Exercise may be done through calisthenics, through the use of free weights for providing resistance, or through the use of exercise machines. Exercise machines are often very useful for effective exercise, if they are properly designed and used. They may, for example, focus on a specific set of muscles and a range of movement through an exercise cycle. They may also provide for adjustment of resistive forces, so as to accommodate different users or the changing requirements of a single user.
Exercise machines have been designed to exercise the abdominal muscles. For example, muscles of the abdominal wall, including rectus abdominis, internal oblique and external oblique muscles of the abdominal region, may be beneficially exercised by what can generally described as a sit-up or “crunch” type motion wherein an angle defined by the longitudinal axis of the upper torso and the thighs is varied during the act of contraction and relaxation of the abdominal muscles. Done without free weights or machines, the sit-up style crunch exercise is typically done with the user holding his knees and feet in the air and crunching up to bring his nose toward the knees.
Free weights may be used for sit-up exercise by, for example, the exerciser clutching a light weight to the chest area during the performance of the sit-up.
The abdominal exercise machines typically position the user on the machine to provide limited movement of the limbs but a range of movement of the torso, while providing some form of resistance. The resistance is typically provided through weights, springs, pulleys and, in some cases, a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.
The aim of an exercise machine should be to provide the proper amount of resistance through the proper range of motion while maintaining proper body position, so as to provide a most beneficial movement with a minimal risk of harm. Harm can result from exercises done improperly or without proper resistance forces. Sloppy technique or too much weight in using an abdominal machine may result in injury to the muscles, such as a pulled muscle or hernia.
Sometimes an exercise machine is designed to emulate a certain movement, for example, a sit-up style crunch. Sometimes exercise machines are designed to provide a level of resistance that is more suitable to one category of users, say women or children, rather than the athletes. A view of the prior art of abdominal exercise machines reveals a deficiency in at least one or more design objectives set forth herein: proper position of the body of the user through a proper range of motion, and the use of a proper resistance force. Prior art exercise machines either do not properly define the objectives or, if the objectives were defined, have not adequately addressed these objectives.
The prior art abdominal machines tend to use an adjustable weights stack, the user's body weight, elastic members or hydraulic/pneumatic cylinder mechanisms to provide resistance. However, the prior art abdominal exercise machines do not provide for a balanced combination of the user's body weight with the advantages of hydraulic and/or pneumatic resistance. As such, Applicant has endeavored to provide an effective, efficient and safe abdominal exercise machine to achieve proper body position and the proper application of resistance force over a range of motion suitable for the effective exercise of the target muscle groups.